Rediscovering the “me” in mommeeeeeeee (a journey of reprioritising)

A few of you may have seen or heard me mention a thing I have been working towards since the beginning of last year called #ProjectMe. I was hinting at it already in 2016 when the idea first came to me, when I was suffering from severe burnout after #CarseatFullstop. It began really clarifying itself when I did the #CTConfidence shoot with Abigail K. And then 2017 sucked me under and the very reason I so desperately needed to begin this journey of reprioritising me – losing myself in the chaos of motherhood and deadlines and finances and and and – became a roadblock to my getting #ProjectMe off the ground.

Late last year I decided 2018 was going to be the best year ever and #ProjectMe was definitely going to be a part of that. And then… of course… this happened. Instagram followers would also have seen that February quickly joined January on the trashheap of  2017. But March! March has been moving in all the right directions! And it is all starting to come together!

#ProjectMe is in motion – Reprioritising me

I have been pitching the concept to people and brands and the response has been so overwhelmingly positive! I have my own personal photographer who is joining me on the journey, the most amazing stylist known to man – The Image Consultant (because everybody EVERYBODY wants to be as awesome as her and now she is going to teach people how!!), a meal planner, a personal trainer and a hairdresser due a meeting and SO many other amazing brands!

Reprioritising doesn’t mean putting myself ahead of the people around me, it just means setting aside time to do things that make me feel like a woman outside of being a mommy… In ways that work for me. So that when facing days where Charly needs all of me, there is something of “me” there. I need to spend some time on things now, so that they don’t take up as much time in the long term. Does that make sense?

 

Day 1491 – 11 Mar 18 : Yup. Some part of her has to be on some part of me at all times. Including toilet breaks. She freaked out because she couldn’t touch me while eating because I was sitting too far away. We had to stop eating twice so she could hug me. I have never felt more loved and needed in my life. And I am exhausted and so very touched out. And freaked out because it all feels so intense. Thank you all SO much for the thoughts and kind words and sharing of stories. For those that asked, the overall feedback has been it is likely an ill-timed clash of timings. One of you lovelies shared that the teachers of this age group have them a heads up that this was a stage that kicked in as they begin to process mortality. So – normal stage they all go through. And then others of you have shared the same kind of experiences as your littles process the loss of a loved one. So losing my granny right at this stage where the permanence of death is being processed may just have sent it into overdrive. I am going to see how it goes for a little longer and then possibly look at a visit to a play therapist – I miss my best friend and neighbour so much at times like this. Love to you all xxx

A post shared by Mandy Lee Miller (@pregnantincapetown) on Mar 11, 2018 at 12:08pm PDT

I was hoping to have my #ProjectMe platform up and running by now, but it is being built at least! I have created an Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest account… Although nothing much is happening there as yet. I am already working things into a schedule, because LOADS of the content is going to be sharing the experiences I have so you can figure out if it might work for you (while I figure out what works for me).

Part of that is making sure I give everything a fair go, and if it doesn’t work for me, it STILL might work for you… Which is kind of the point – finding what works for YOU in YOUR life without having to sacrifice your time with your family.

Last year I worked with the Superbalist team on reviewing they gorgeous Sixth Floor range over on Tums 2 Tots… I was dipping a toe into the whole reprioritising myself with “special something for me” with that project. So when they reached out again, to see if I wanted to shop their Autumn/Winter 2018 range of boots and sneakers, there was a LOT of jumping up and down and squealing!

They were giving me a voucher to spend as I please, to share my favourites from their range. Some of the trade exchange work I do across my brands is legitimately HARD work… Browsing a website stuffed full of gorgeous things to see what I love most; not so much! And you guys, I NEVER buy things for myself. Not ever. Every time I want to, I am reminded that my kid needs new (insert clothing item she has outgrown). #MomLife hey?

To start off with, I should probably acknowledge that I have random obsessions with different shoes – some completely irrational. Until I fell pregnant with Charly, I literally owned about 20 pairs of stilleto heels – and I never wore them. I mean NEVER. I couldn’t stand in them and they were completely impractical because of my knee issues, but I just fell completely in love every now and then and NEEDED them.

When I fell pregnant, one of my lovely YOUNG friends got a brand new shoe collection. Which is just as well, because I went up 1 and a half shoe sizes and my feet never shrank back down (yes, this is a real pregnancy thing for some people). I won’t lie, I may have a box hidden away with a few pairs of velvet stilletos and knee high velvet stilleto boots.

There was a running joke at my wedding (even mentioned by the gent marrying us in his welcome), because they were unsure whether I would wear one of the 2 gorgeous pairs of lady shoes I bought for the occasion or my combat boots (which are actual boots that people wear in combat) under my fairy princess wedding dress. So yup, eclectic taste. My current favourite shoe is a black sneaker with ribbons for laces and a section of rose gold on the heel and rose gold dongles on the ends of the laces.

Hmmm, maybe I should also share my current obsession with rose gold…

It is totally normal to have an album on your cell phone titled “Rose gold” right? (It is legit, check the dates, I have been collecting images since January.) And yes, I want rose gold appliances!!! And cutlery! The rest of my family can be normal and eat with boring cutlery, I want my very own Rose gold cutlery!!!

So, these are my choices…  I can’t buy them all (obviously), but I am a little bit stuck and can’t decide… What do you think? If you could choose one pair of sneakers and one pair of boots, which would you choose?

I was meant to share three of each, but narrowing it down was HARD! Nobody could leave out any of the Rose Gold sneakers, but I have fallen in love with the black velvet flatforms (since when is that a thing?) I had a pair of black canvas ones when I was a teenager, they were called platforms then though.

 

A few other things I love about Superbalist… They have an awesome Wishlist feature where you can share your wishlist with family and friends. They have such a broad range of items available, clothing, shoes, accessories, tech, stationery, home accessories and decor items. And there is such a huge price range as well. Superbalist also has an app on iOS and Android and if you downlaod it and make your first purchase ever using it, you get R250 off.

SO! Which shoes do you think I should get? Which are your favourites? And which do you think are my favourites? I am not just random asking, I have letters there so I can get proper feedback and help me not break my credit card getting them all!

Also, any thoughts on #ProjectMe? Is it too overdone? I need to find a way to do better and be better, so it is necessary, but is it something you would follow along with? I think I have found a unique take on it and that the brands I have decided on have something special to offer that you might not have considered, BUT are there just too many lifestyle-type blogs around? I’m by no means statuesque or beautiful or glamourous or “cool”, as so many of the lifestyle / beauty / fashion bloggers are…

I mean, the below is the closest I have come to a “makeup” photo… It was a joke I sent to my friends, because I know so so little about makeup it is a running joke.

Ok, so! Feedback pleeeease! You can follow #ProjectMe on Instagram. You can search on all other socal media under @projectmeza, but they really haven’t got any attention. When I do the proper launch I will let you all know.

Sending all the love xxx

*The choices of items and my love for the brand are allll me!